Starting All Over
by liliflowerxoxo
Summary: A new version of the story. Set after the show. After months of suffering from illness, Riley receives a heart transplant. Very AU and OOC. Part of my Disney/One Last Wish series. (Read my profile for more info on the series)
1. Chapter 1

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The long hand moved slightly. Another minute had passed.

Riley kept her eyes on the clock across the wall of the hospital room. The sound of it kept her calm. It was a lot better than hearing the sound of the oxygen machine attached to her. But it made her depressed at the same time. While her friends are out at school hanging out and doing homework she was stuck here. It hurt to move, to breathe. She looked terrible, with pale skin and her lips and fingertips bluish due to a lack of oxygen. Pain seized her chest and she took a deep breath from the oxygen mask. She hated this so much. One minute she was Riley Daring, a bit geeky and kooky but smart and well liked by friends and family. Then she was a patient in a hospital, her life hanging by a thread. Only a miracle could save her now.

It started last winter with a common cold. Just a little cold. Cough, sniffle, fatigue, soreness. Nothing out of the ordinary. But after two weeks, the symptoms persisted. Gradually it became harder for her to breathe and even walking across the room became a huge effort. Riley was forced to miss school, which made Todd jealous, and see the doctor. The doctor then took her to the hospital and referred her to cardiology. Riley spent days going through numerous tests wile her symptoms worsened.

Finally the doctor came in with the results. Riley was suffering from viral myocarditis. It had symptoms similar to a cold but much worse. It was a virus that attacked her heart and damaged it. Now her heart was weak and flabby, unable to pump blood and oxygen properly to her body.

When the doctor explained to her about her condition, Riley could barely listen. All she could do was watch the clock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. She was seriously ill. She could be dying. Time was passing by and she was stuck in the doctor's office.

At first they gave her some medications to help with the symptoms. But because it was a very serious illness, a heart transplant was considered. It was extremely risky but it could help. Organ transplant. The words echoed repeatedly in her mind. She heard many things about organ transplants. She knew it wasn't going to be easy. There was a high risk for complication such as rejection, an immune system response since the organ would be seen as foreign. As a result her immune system would have to be weakened by drugs, which would put her at risk for infection. She also read strange stories about cellular memory, which mainly occurs in recipients of heart transplants. Basically they gain some parts of the personality of the donor, which Riley found creepy.

All that time the doctor explained the whole procedure, Riley sat numbly. She still could not process what happened to her. Goodbye extra homework, extracurricular activities, and friends, hello hospital. This was just too much. At one point she considered calling Fleemco to replace the doctor with someone else, preferably someone who would tell her that there was a mistake and that she would be fine. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

The next several months passed. Riley often spent time in bed, drugged with various medications as her health deteriorated. The doctors tried several types of medicine but it was no use. Her heart was failing.

Now, nearly ten months after she first became ill, Riley was forced to stay bedridden, relying on an oxygen mask to breathe. Just the week before her cardiologist discussed with her about a heart transplant since her condition had worsened. She was put on the waiting list but it was not guaranteed that she would be able to have the surgery. Waiting could take months and who knows how much time she had left. So now here she was lying in bed, waiting.

Just when Riley was about to drift off to sleep again, her cardiologist appeared.


	2. Chapter 2

What happened afterward was a blur to Riley. Everything moved so fast.

"Riley!" The cardiologist, Dr. Werner, said. "We have a donor."

She didn't know what to say. Next thing she knew, she was taken to another room where they were going to prepare her for surgery.

"The donor was a girl about your age who was killed in a car accident. Her parents agreed to donate her organs so quite a few lives are going to be saved tonight. Based on what we know, your blood type will be compatible with the heart." Dr. Werner explained. They wheeled her to another room where her family was waiting.

"I know it's hard to understand what's going on right now," The cardiologist explained to the family, "All we know that there is a heart available that can save Riley's life. But there's a chance that today might not be the day."

"What?" her parents exclaimed. They began to argue with the doctor but he tried to calm them down.

"Organ transplantation is not an easy process. You have to remember that there are many people on that list waiting for an organ. Some get lucky and some do not. There are several factors we have to consider before doing the surgery. Riley is a candidate but she may be bumped off the list for whatever reason. It could be some other complication or a patient who needs the surgery more than she does."

Riley just laid on the bed, sucking on the oxygen mask. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. After being ill for nearly a year, Riley was afraid that she had forgotten what it was like to breathe without struggling. To have a strong beating heart instead of a weak flabby one. She looked at her hands, her fingers clubbed and bluish. When was the last time her hands looked normal?

She took another breath from the mask. Never in her life had she hated something as much as she hated that contraption. It made her feel trapped, sucking the life out of her and yet she needed it to keep her alive.

Meanwhile, Todd had his own fantasies about Riley's impending surgery. He was on his phone talking to his friends about how his sister was going to get another person's heart inside her body. Out of everyone she knew, Todd was the least affected by her health. Riley couldn't remember the last time she saw her friends.

Pain suddenly seized her chest and she took another deep breath. Then she noticed that Dr. Werner had left the room. To take her mind off the pain, Riley focused on the clock. Based on what she read, the human heart can only survive outside the body for about four hours. The surgery will take over an hour. Recovery time without complications would take about one to two weeks. Another shot of pain stabbed her chest.

Riley drifted on and off, unaware of what was going on around her. She remembered hearing Dr. Werner come back in. He told her parents something, but she didn't hear. Then the doctor turned back to her and said her name. It sounded distant, like an echo. Riley tried to answer but was unable to say anything. Another shot of pain stabbed her, harder than the last one. She sucked harder into the mask but it didn't help.

She heard Dr. Warner call someone and the medical appearing suddenly. The world around her began to blur as she started to grow dizzy. The last thing she heard was the sound of her name.


	3. Chapter 3

Voices. Bleeps. Wheels. Shouts. She was fading.

A shock jolted her body. A strange sensation came upon her. She felt light and distant. Voices becoming whispering echoes

Another shock. Bright lights blind her. Suddenly there was no pain.

Nothing hurt. She was breathing without effort. When was the last time she felt that way?

A toddler, probably around two walks around the house. She crawls into a cupboard and sits in it. Footsteps approach her. "There you are!" A familiar voice said. She felt herself being lifted by the familiar stranger. "Come one. Time for bed."

An eight year old girl woke up with a start in the middle of the night. From downstairs, she heard someone on the phone. Not wanting to wake her brother, she tiptoed out of the room and to the stairs. The person on the phone, a young woman who was around sixteen, seemed upset. She paced around back and forth, her eyes red from crying. The girl sat by the stairs, wondering why something felt wrong.

The girl again, two years older. She and her brother were alone in a room, being forced to clean the floors and windows. She looked out the window, jealous of the kids who had a happy family with loving parents. When they were done, they went to put the mop and rags back in the supply closet. When they walked out, a magazine with a certain ad caught their eye.

There she was again, now thirteen with a daredevil dad and secret agent mom. For once she felt like somebody, not that kooky orphan girl and her doofus brother. Misadventure followed her like a lost puppy, coming to her at the push of a button. She wouldn't have traded this life for anything else.

Another image took over. The same girl, now slightly older. Lying in bed with a cold. Her health declining so fast that C.A.R. went quadruple the speed limit to take her to the ER when she was found unconscious in her bedroom floor. The endless tests to find out what made a perfectly normal girl so ill that she couldn't breathe.

Pain jolted her body. Another shock of electricity stronger than before. Images became even more blurred. More strange but familiar voices appeared. "Don't worry, Mommy's here." But that didn't sound like her. Or did it?

She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.

Drowning. She was drowning. Darkness flooded her. There was an eerie silence. Her body felt weightless.

So this was what death was like.

Suddenly she felt another strange sensation. Like she was suffocating. What did it feel, to be out of touch with your own body. To feel your weak heart beating itself to death. Your lungs struggling for air.

Bright lights blinded her again. The pain became even more stronger. She felt heavy. No more of that light out of body experience.

She was aware of her breathing now. That familiar sound of the oxygen mask filling her ears. She wanted to tear that thing off.

More noises. A steady bleep. Chattering. Sighs of relief. The hissing of the oxygen tank. Wheels being rolled in and out of the room.

Blurred images. A white room. Faces. Blurred faces covered by hospital clothing. Her eyelids felt heavy. Opening them was too much for her.

"...saved her..."

"...intensive care..."

"...stable..."

Drowsiness overtook her again. Before she realized what was going on, Riley drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

**A/N: Okay, I'm really on fire today! I'm working on all four stories and I'm actually liking how they're turning out. So I don't know how exactly this story is going to roll out but I'll just take whatever pops in my head and make a story out of it. I know this is a small audience but I just wanted to get my story out. I think this version is so much better than my original. I'll try to update at least once a month so I won't keep you hanging. Enjoy!**


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